Germination of ficus seeds for rehabilitation purposes

Abstract

Quarrying industries have played an important role in our country for a long time. As the need of quarrying products arises, most companies have been neglecting one of the most important aspects in quarrying, which is the rehabilitation afterwards. One of the easiest and most economic ways in rehabilitation of these abandoned quarries is by using revegetation method. On the other hand, revegetation of limestone quarries are harder compared to granite quarries because not all kinds of plant are suitable to be planted due to the conditions of the relatively barren rocky cliff and unfertile soil. The right choice of plant species will ensure continuous growth and at the same time protect the surface from erosion. For the purpose of this research, five different ficus species from three different areas which are Gunung Lang, Gunung Cheroh and Gunung Genting are use. The choice of the different ficus species are base on the population available in these different areas. The result shows that the most suitable ficus species for germination purposes are the Ficus benjamina, followed by Ficus retusa and Ficus auriculata. This is based on the growth percentage and growth time where the growth percentages for these species are from 50% to 87% while the growth time is about 11 to 17 days.